Texte grec :
| [32,50] τί οὖν τοῦτο λαμπρόν,
ὦ κακοδαίμονες; ὑπὲρ μὲν γὰρ δικαιοσύνης καὶ ἀρετῆς καὶ
πατρῴων γερῶν καὶ νόμων καὶ χρηστοῦ βασιλέως, εἰ δέοι, πονεῖν
καὶ ἀποθνῄσκειν ἀγαθῆς ἐστι καὶ οὐ φιλοζῴου ψυχῆς· ὑπὲρ
δὲ τῆς ψαλτρίας ἀπάγχεσθαι, καθάρματος ἀγεννοῦς καὶ ζῆν οὐκ
ἀξίου, πόσης αἰσχύνης; καὶ τούτους μὲν ἐάσωμεν, ἀλλ´ ἐν
αὐτῇ τῇ θέᾳ τὰ γιγνόμενα οὐκ αἰσχρὰ καὶ μεστὰ πάσης ὕβρεως,
〈τὸ〉 ἀνατετάσθαι καὶ ἀποβλέπειν, μόνον οὐκ ἐπὶ τοῖς χείλεσι τὰς
ψυχὰς ἔχοντας, καθάπερ οἶμαι διὰ τῶν ὤτων τὴν εὐδαιμονίαν
δεχομένους, σωτῆρα καὶ θεὸν καλοῦντας ἄνθρωπον ἄθλιον; πόσον
τινὰ γέλωτα τοὺς θεοὺς ὑμῶν καταγελᾶν οἴεσθε, ὅταν πάλιν ἐκείνους
προσκυνοῦντες ταὐτὰ προσφέρησθε καὶ διὰ τῶν αὐτῶν ἀναγκάζησθε
τιμᾶν τὸ δαιμόνιον; ἀλλ´ ἔστιν εὐγνώμων ὁ θεός, ὡς
θεός, οἶμαι, καὶ φέρει πρᾴως τὴν τῶν πολλῶν ἄνοιαν. τοιγαροῦν
ὡς παισὶν ὑμῖν παιδαγωγοὺς δέδωκε τοὺς φρονιμωτέρους τῆς πόλεως,
μεθ´ ὧν καὶ θεωρεῖτε καὶ τἄλλα ἄμεινον πράττετε. ἐπεὶ
πῶς ἂν ἀπείχεσθε ἀλλήλων; καίτοι ποίους τινὰς ἂν ὑμεῖς ἡγοῖσθε
ἀνθρώπους, οἷς ἐλευθερία μὴ συμφέρει; νὴ Δία, τὸ γὰρ
πρᾶγμά ἐστι φύσει τοιοῦτον. οὐ γὰρ καὶ ἐν ἄλλαις πόλεσιν ᾄδουσι
καὶ νὴ Δία αὐλοῦσι καὶ τρέχουσι καὶ πάνθ´ ὅσα γίγνεται {καὶ}
παρ´ ὑμῖν καὶ παρ´ ἑτέροις τισίν; ἀλλ´ οὐδαμοῦ τοιοῦτος ἔρως
ἐστὶ τοῦ πράγματος οὐδὲ οἶστρος. {ἴστε Ῥοδίους ἐγγὺς οὕτως ὑμῶν
ζῶντας ἐν ἐλευθερίᾳ καὶ μετὰ πάσης ἀδείας· ἀλλὰ παρ´ ἐκείνοις
οὐδὲ τὸ δραμεῖν ἐν τῇ πόλει δοκεῖ μέτριον, ἀλλὰ καὶ τῶν ξένων
ἐπιπλήττουσι τοῖς εἰκῇ βαδίζουσι. τοιγαροῦν εἰκότως εὐδοκιμοῦσι
καὶ πάσης τιμῆς τυγχάνουσιν. αἰδούμενοι γὰρ αὑτοὺς πρῶτοι καὶ
μηδὲν ἀνόητον ποιοῦντες εἰκότως οἶμαι παρά τε τῶν ἄλλων καὶ
τῶν ἡγουμένων αἰδοῦς τυγχάνουσιν·} ἐπεὶ καὶ τῶν ἄλλων εὑρήσομεν
τὰ πλεῖστα ταὐτὰ πράττοντας τοῖς ἀνοήτοις τοὺς σώφρονας, οἷον
ἐσθίοντας, βαδίζοντας, παίζοντας, θεωροῦντας· ἡ γὰρ φύσις
ἀναγκάζει πολλῶν ὁμοίων δεῖσθαι· διαφέρουσι μέντοι περὶ ταῦτα
πάντα· αὐτίκα ἑστιώμενοι πρῶτον οἱ μὲν οὔτε ἀμαθῶς οὔτε
ἀπρεπῶς διάγουσιν, ἀλλ´ εὐσχημόνως ἅμα καὶ προσηνῶς, εὐωχίας, οὐ
παροινίας, ἄρχοντες, φιλοφρονούμενοι τοὺς συνόντας, οὐ
θρασυνόμενοι πρὸς αὐτούς· οἱ δὲ ἀπηνῶς καὶ ἀκολάστως, μετὰ
βοῆς καὶ ἀταξίας ὀργιζόμενοι καὶ γελῶντες, πλεονεκτοῦντες ἀλλήλους,
οὐ παρακαλοῦντες, τελευτῶντες ἀπίασι κακόν τι τοῖς συμπόταις δόντες
ἢ παρ´ ἐκείνων λαβόντες· οἵαν ποτὲ γενέσθαι φασὶ
Κενταύρων συνουσίαν. καὶ τί δεῖ τἄλλα ἐπεξιέναι καθ´ ἕκαστον;
ἀλλὰ τὸ βαδίζειν, ὃ κοινόν ἐστι καὶ ἁπλοῦν δήπουθεν, τοῦ μὲν
ἐμφαίνει τὴν ἡσυχίαν τοῦ τρόπου καὶ τὸ προσέχειν ἑαυτῷ, τοῦ δὲ
ταραχήν 〈καὶ〉 ἀναίδειαν· σπουδῇ πρόσεισι, φθέγγεται βαδίζων {ἢ}
πεσών τινα ἔωσε, μάχεται πρὸς ἕτερον. ὁμοίως καὶ περὶ τὰς
θέας οἱ μέν εἰσιν ἄπληστοι καὶ λίχνοι καὶ περὶ πάντα ὁμοίως
ἐπτοημένοι τὰ τυχόντα, οἱ δὲ κοσμίως καὶ μετ´ εἰρήνης μετέχουσιν.
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Traduction française :
| [32,50] What distinction, then, can your conduct bring you,
you luckless creatures ? For whereas in the cause of
justice and virtue and ancestral rights and laws and
for a good king, a noble soul, one that does not cling
to life, will, if need be, suffer and even die ; yet if a man
hangs himself for the sake of his chorus-girl, a low-born
outcast, not fit to live, what depths of disgrace does that betoken !
And now let us say no more about these poor
unfortunates ; but, directing our attention to the
spectacle itself, is the conduct of the spectators not
disgraceful and replete with every variety of wantonness ?
—I mean the intensity of their gaze, their souls
all but hanging on their lips—as if, one would
think, it were through the ear that men receive
felicity—and applying the terms "saviour" and
"god" to a pitiful human being ! With what boundless
laughter, think you, must the gods laugh you to
scorn, when next in your worship of them you conduct
yourselves in the same fashion and find yourselves
compelled to use those same terms in honouring the
deity ? However, god is indulgent, I suppose, since
he is god, and he treats lightly the folly of the masses.
Accordingly to you as his children has he given as
guardians and guides those who are more prudent
than you Alexandrians, and by their companionship
not only at the theatre but elsewhere too, your
conduct is improved. For otherwise how could you
keep your hands off one another?
And yet what kind of human beings do you think
they are for whom freedom is not advantageous ?
"None, by Zeus," someone says, "for freedom is by
nature advantageous. For do not other cities also have
singing, aye, by Zeus, and flute-playing and foot-racing
and all those other entertainments that are
found, not only here in Alexandria, but among
certain other people too ? " Aye, but nowhere is
there such a passion for that sort of thing, such a mad
desire, as with yourselves. For example, you know
that the Rhodians, your near neighbours, enjoy
freedom and complete independence of action;
however, in Rhodes even running within the City
limits is held not to be respectable, but, on the
contrary, they even reprove strangers for being
careless in their walk. So it is with good reason that
the Rhodians should enjoy fair renown and universal
honour. For since they are the first to show respect
to themselves and to refrain from any foolish act, it
is with good reason, I believe, that they have the
respect of men in general and of their leaders as well.
The fact is, we shall find that in most other matters
too the wise engage in the same activities as the foolish,
such as eating, walking, playing, attending the theatre
and the games. For nature compels them to have
many needs in common with the foolish ; there are,
however, differences of behaviour in all these matters.
Take feasting as the first instance : whereas the wise
behave neither boorishly nor regardless of decorum,
but with elegance combined with courtesy, as men
beginning a joyous feast and not a drunken debauch,
being gracious toward their companions, not subjecting
them to effrontery ; the foolish, on the other hand,
behave disgustingly and without restraint, giving
vent to anger or to laughter with shouts and disorder,
trying to get more than their companions, not
inviting them to partake, and finally, before leaving
for home, either they have done some damage to
their fellow banqueters or received damage themselves,
as we are told was the case at the party once held by the Centaurs.
And yet why run through all the other differences
one by one ? But just take walking, for example, an
activity common to all men and surely a simple one.
One man's gait reveals the composure of his nature
and the attention he gives to his conduct, while that
of another reveals his confusion of mind and his
shamelessness : he is hurried as he approaches,
talks as he walks, or bursts in and jostles someone,
comes to blows with someone else. Similarly also
with reference to the theatre : some persons are
insatiate and greedy and all aflutter over everything
alike, however commonplace, but others participate
in the spectacle decorously and in peace.
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